Newspaper Publishes Gun Owners' Names and Addresses

A newspaper in New York has received a wave of criticism from its readers after publishing the names and addresses of all of the individuals with handgun or pistol permits in its coverage area.
Hundreds of residents in New York's Westchester and Rockland counties were surprised to find their names and addresses listed on a map posted by The Journal News on Sunday. Users can click any dot on the map to see which of their neighbors has a permit for a gun.
The map sparked more than 500 comments from readers within a day of its appearance on the website, many of them voicing outrage at the paper's decision to make the information public.
"This is CRAZY!! why in the world would you post every licensed gun owner information?? What do you hope to accomplish by doing this. This is the type of thing you do for sex offenders not law abiding gun owners. What next? should i hang a flag outside my house that says I own a gun? I am canceling my subscription with your paper today!!!" said commenter Curtis Maenza.
"How about a map of the editorial staff and publishers of Gannett and Journal News with names and addresses of their families…," wrote commenter George Thompson.
All of the names and addresses were compiled through public records. The paper also requested the information from Putnam County, which is still compiling the records for publication, according to The Journal News' website.
In a statement to ABC News, The Journal News said its readers "are understandably interested to know about guns in their neighborhoods," because of the conversation about gun control on its website after the shooting in Newtown, Conn., last week.
"We obtained the names and addresses of Westchester and Rockland residents who are licensed to own handguns through routine Freedom of Information law requests. We also requested information on the number and types of guns owned by permit holders, but officials in the county clerks offices in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties maintained that those specifics were not public record," the statement read.
"New York's top public-records expert, Robert Freeman, disagrees," it added.
The paper declined to answer further questions about the map.

I can see prejudice now being directed at those got owners then possibly losing their jobs or worse. maybe somebody should post the addresses of the top executives for that newsgroup and see how they like having their rights and privacy being violated. if there has been crimes committed they need to be sued. this could lead to profiling and many other problems. it is also exactly why gun ownersdon't want their names on a list.

Well, I guess would be thieves/vandals/murderers could always use it as a NOGO list for their potential visits....after all the potentially 'gun free' places would serve to be a much smarter target for easy pickins.

Sauce for the goose or, home address and phone number of Journal-News publisher

White Plains newspaper The Journal- News, a Gannett publication, has published the full name and address of every licensed pistol permit holder in three New York counties. I don’t know whether the Journal’s publisher Janet Hasson is a permit holder herself, but here’s how to find her to ask:

(UPDATE: Uh oh – InstaPundit’s linked here. Hundreds of thousands of readers; Janet, you have a great Christmas Eve)

Janet Hasson, publisher, Journal News

Janet Hasson, 3 Gate House Lane, Mamaroneck, NY 10534.

Phone number: (248) 594-2197; you might also try (914) 525-1923, but the area code is just a guess on the assumption that this number is a land line.

Here’s a photo showing her Mamaroneck house – interior shots are on Zillow: